Please continue with your story in photos. I am sure that our family members who gave so much would be gratified to know that we valued their sacrifice and are willing to share their stories with others.
Best Regards,
Steve

They went back to Lucky Strike for the remainder of their tour. As I mentioned in the first post, their duties at Lucky Strike were to process out bound soldiers. The letters home were filled with how busy they were trying to keep the soldiers moving through, wondering how much longer they would have until the points number dropped enough so they could go home, and whether they would be shipped to the Pacific Theater.

I'll post some photos of their training prior to going over seas. He was at Camp Callahan, CA where he was an artillery battery commander.

Edit 12/27/2011: The mysterious box on the tripod was identified as a "Director" - "The director could also be used to aim the AA gun in place of using hand cranks. It was a steel box full of gears, approximately four cubic feet. It sat on a tripod, which also had a leveling mechanism. There was a scope on each side, and the trackers stood on the ground looking through the scopes instead of sitting on the gun seats. The director was usually located about 15 feet from the gun. It had to be coordinated with the gun by sighting both of them on some distant object and then locking them together. The trackers had 6-inch diameter wheels located next to the scopes that were rotated to keep their cross hairs on a moving target. The gears in the box were supposed to build in a lead on a target so if you were tracking a plane, the projectile would be fired out early enough to allow lead-time to reach the plane." - Courtesy Bob Gallhager website: http://www.gallagher.com/ww2/chapter3.html.

That pretty well wraps it up. I did not open and read his letters home until this year - he died in 1977 and my grandmother died in 1997. I felt I was violating their personal life until now. This has been a very cathartic experience for me getting to know a man, who died when I was in college, on a much more personal level. And I am pleased to know that I can at least pass on his story (such that I can piece it together) to my heirs.

If you have the opportunity to do something similar, I encourage you to do so! I wish I had done so sooner when men in his unit were still around to ask about him and their experiences!

Here is the photo from SSMN's thread that we think may be my grandfather. (Thanks Steve for the permission!) Grand Daddy mentioned that he had to process the "souvenir lines" as well as having to censor the mail of his men during the war - neither of these duties he enjoyed. He did bring home some nice swords and daggers - two of which I have in my gun safe as very cherished items.